Jury finds woman guilty of managing brothels

A 39-YEAR-OLD Cork woman yesterday became the third person to be implicated in the managing of one of the country’s most sophisticated brothel operations.

Despite claims by her defence counsel that the case against Caroline O’Leary was “one of the thinnest cases I have ever seen put forward by the Director of Public Prosecutions” the jury of 12 men still found the Watergrasshill woman guilty of seven charges relating to the management of brothels in Cork city.

However, she was cleared of 43 counts of allegedly organising prostitution and the keeping of the brothels at 26 John Street and 18 Grafton Street, Cork, on dates between January 2006 and May 2007.

There was failure to reach any verdict on 19 counts.

O’Leary will join her partner Tony Linnane, 53, and another woman, Julieanne Gibson, 41, for sentencing on May 12.

However, while the other two defendants will be free until that date, she will spend the next two weeks in prison after being remanded in custody by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin.

He refused bail for O’Leary because while Linnane and Gibson pleaded guilty at earlier sittings, O’Leary maintained her not-guilty plea and allowed her case to be put before a jury.

The events which lead to the three successful prosecutions began when officers raided the substantial six-acre property Linnane and O’Leary share in Watergrasshill in November 2006 as well as a number of other properties.

After four hours of deliberation the jury found O’Leary guilty on the seven charges.